Chin

Member of a people of Mongol origin who speak a Tibeto-Burman language occupying western Myanmar and the Irrawaddy Valley. The Chin practice shifting cultivation, growing rice, maize, and millet and rearing animals, including the gayal, an Indian wild ox. Some groups are egalitarian, others are headed by hereditary chiefs who traditionally received agricultural tribute from commoners. Today some Chin are Hindus, some Christians, and others maintain their old religious beliefs.

Chin

State of western Myanmar; area 36,019 sq km/13,907 sq mi; population (1994 est) 438,000. The capital is Hakha (or Haka). Chin is a mountainous area, populated mainly by hill peoples, notably the Chin and the Nagas. It contains Mount Victoria (3,053 m/10,000 ft) and the River Kaladan. It is one of the major administrative divisions of Myanmar, and became a state in 1975. The main product is rice.